Drawing by Frank Hagel

OK… I’m a little crazy and maybe should have just kept this story to myself. But after telling this tale to my brother he said, “You just have to write about this”.

Over the New Year long weekend I spent a considerable amount of time sitting with Zach in a goose blind “up-river” as we say in Sedro Woolley. Mostly I had been sharing the field with the daily gathering of Trumpeter Swans. Skagit Valley is the wintering ground for these big white protected birds. On occasion I have been in the corn field with as many as 250 Swans.

On the morning I am writing about Zach and I once again are joined by large numbers of Trumpeters and now I hear the familiar honk of Canadian Geese. Indeed they are coming our way, working the decoys exactly as they should. Repeating what I have done many times before I allow them one more pass thinking they were going to be all over me. Wrong, the geese landed some 150 yards away. After waiting and watching for some 30 minutes I decide I must take some action, what could it be? A running charge? A stealthy crawl? Yes, that’s it, a crawl. And why not put one of the big goose decoys over me? Zach is told to stay as I crawl from the blind; the decoys are between me and the live geese. Making my way to the decoys I place one over my head and continue to crawl toward the geese. This plan is actually working, now I am only 90 yards from the geese and closing. At this point Zach has had all of this staying business he can stand and runs to join the fun. The geese take exception to the charging black dog and fly off. Darn, and it was working!

I am quite sure I would have been a prime candidate for “Funniest Home Videos” if someone had been present to record the action. Hopefully my fellow sportsman will understand that we hunters are a crazy lot.

Best Regards,